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Friday, October 31, 2014

Science and policy snippets from IRC2014 (October 30)

Partnerships among governments and the private sector are strengthening farmers’ skills in applying sustainable farming practices.
These initiatives were shared by experts from around the world during the
symposium, Mainstreaming Sustainable Rice – Rice
Value Chain Global Transformation.

Topics included: (A)
Sustainable rice: what is it and what is it worth?, by Sarah Beebout; (B)
Voluntary standards and roundtables: what can we learn from other industries,
by Hans Perk; (C) The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP): a global
multi-stakeholder platform, by Wyn Ellis; and (D) Sustainability and IRRI's ecological intensification platform, by James
Quilty.

Private companies that work on rice also shared their programs aimed at helping farmers become good managers and environmental stewards by promoting sustainable farming
practices.

Sustainability of farming
environments and resilience of rice value chains are assured by making farmers
understand and accept, complex scientific concepts around achieving
sustainability. This was what experts at
the International Rice Congress, now happening in Bangkok, Thailand, proposed
as a way to achieve an environmentally-sensitive rice industry.

Rod Rejesus, symposium convener and professor
from North Carolina State University, stated the importance of
collaboration and partnership between rice scientists and impact assessment specialists. He added that the “consortium approach” was a good model for NRM
diffusion. “With donors’ continued emphasis on impact," he added, "it is also important
to have in place at the beginning of a project a social scientist who will do
impact assessment, rather than at the end.”

~

Healthier rice to address double burden of malnutrition

Asia faces a "double burden" of malnutrition. While Asians continue to deal with problems of undernutrition, they are experiencing a rapid increase in noncommunicable disease, such as obesity and diabetes, which are brought about by overnutrition.

During the scientific session on Healthier and Nutritious Rice at IRC2014, developments in rice varieties with low-glycemic index, high-iron, and high, -zinc were presented. Also discussed was the research on increasing the nutrition content of oil obtained from rice bran.

Rice is the primary staple of Asians, and to ensure that it helps address both forms of malnutrition, scientists are developing healthier rice varieties and products. According Dr. Nese Sreenivasulu, head of IRRI’s Grain Quality and Nutrition Center, “while we know that the consumption of rice is not the primary cause of overnutrition or undernutrition, rice can play a huge role in addressing these forms of malnutrition.”

Both undernutrition and overnutrition exact heavy economic and social burdens on countries at all income levels. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the economic costs of malnutrition due to lost productivity and direct health care costs total US$3.5 trillion, per year, globally.

~Unlocking rice genes with cutting
edge science

During an Innovations in Rice Science session,
scientists from different organizations discussed new technologies that aid in better understanding rice genetics, and how these technologies help make rice breeding more efficient.

Trait and gene
discovery are precursors to the development of new rice varieties that possess
desirable traits, such as flood, drought, and salinity resistance, while
maintaining high yields and other preferred grain qualities.

Advances in rice root biology research involve
novel traits and genetic regions associated with root growth and stress
response. Showcased in a symposium
convened by IRRI physiologist Amelia Henry were new concepts, such as: (1)
linking whole genome association mapping with functional genomics of rice root
traits; (2) importance of plasticity in the rice root's response to drought; (3) hormone effects on root anatomy and biochemisty; and (4) the integration of
root morphology and functionality in developing new rice root ideotypes.

These topics give light to how the roots of rice
contribute to rice yield and the plant's stress response.

~

Around 1,500 participants from 69 countries are attending the 4th International
Rice Congress, or IRC2014, at the Bangkok International Trade &
Exhibition Centre (BITEC).

IRC2014 is being held under the patronage of the Royal
Government of Thailand, specifically the Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperatives, and is touted as the “Olympics of rice science,” being the
largest gathering of rice science and industry held every four years.

For more information: ricecongress.com

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